Rick and Morty’s Justin Roiland Promises No More Years-Long Gaps Between Seasons

Rick and Morty fans were very excited when it was announced that the show was not only renewed but renewed for 70 episodes last month. It seems that everyone involved with the show is in high spirits, and Polygon got a chance to talk to co-creator Justin Roiland at E3 after the debut of his game Trover Saves the World. Roiland said that there won’t be such long breaks between seasons now.

“We‘re super excited that, for the first time ever, we’re locked in, we know what the future is, we have job security,” Roiland said. ”[Dan] Harmon is in great spirits, we have a great writer’s room. We want the episodes to stay good, but we do also want to try to turn them around a little quicker now that we have this big order, I think it gives us the ability to be faster. We’re not going to do these long breaks, these chasms in between seasons anymore. We’re going to schedule vacation time and just keep the machine going. It’s going to be really cool.”

There was an 18-month break between seasons 2 and 3, and that’s something they’re hoping to avoid going forward now that they have job security. Harmon mentioned in his GQ interview that they don’t have to take side jobs now to keep paying the bills. Roiland is very excited and says that good things are happening in the writers room.

“It’s exciting, it’s a little surreal,” Roiland said. ”Even just being in the writers room for half the day every day this week, the ideas are … it’s going to be great.”

The one thing Roiland has been very impressed and amused by is all of the merchandise that has come out of the show even with one-episode jokes like Pickle Rick.

“I can’t believe the merch, how big it’s become,“ Roiland said. “I’m waiting for it to be like, ‘That’s enough. Get it out of my face now.’ But hopefully if we put out really smart, funny episodes, we’ll be able to ride that wave.”

The hype around Rick and Morty doesn’t appear to be slowing down anytime soon — as long as Roiland and Harmon can keep up the momentum for another 70 episodes.

Kaitlyn is the Editor-in-Chief at Bleeding Cool. She loves movies, television, comics, and political satire. She's a member of the UFCA and the GALECA. Feminist. Writer. Nerd. Follow her on twitter @katiesmovies and @safaiagem on instagram. She's also a co-host at The Nerd Dome Podcast. Listen to it at http://www.nerddomepodcast.com